Kate Kovacs - 1

A Future Teachers Thoughts on Learning How to Teach

Kate Kovacs
My experiences in the General Humanities, the first half of my combined degree at the University
of Lethbridge, has been easy and predictable. It is often based off of what Ive always been good at:
thinking, testing, and applying information Ive received through presentations, stand and teach
instruction, and group projects. However, as my General Humanities degree has been wrapping up, the
looming presence of the Education aspect of my combined degree has had me quite afraid of failure. Ive
been terrified of the prospect of loving children, being knowledgeable, being a complete people person
and yet somehow managing to be awful at teaching. However, through my experiences in Education
2500, Ive managed to surprise myself. Unequivocally, I would love to teach the next generation of
students.
My previous experiences in a childhood playing soccer, being active, and enjoying being a
continuous learner have given me a great background of experiences with which to bring to the idea of
teaching. A brief experience in shadowing my aunts grade five classroom a few years ago also stimulated
an interest in the idea of inspiring and teaching children to become the best versions of themselves
possible. My background has allowed me to thoroughly understand human connection, value individual
differences, to learn how to communicate effectively and the importance of bringing fresh energy to every
interaction I have. These characteristics, Ive learned through Education 2500, will be incredibly valuable
in a teaching career.
Ive discovered that being a 21st century teacher to 21st century students will be a welcome
challenge. For example, the idea of the strong role of technology while in the 21 st century classroom
seemed more of a hassle at first, but Ive learned that it allows students to become empowered and
personalize their own learning. Technological advances also done incredible things in improving essential
classroom connections: the opinions, values and attention of the students, teachers, parents, faculty, and

Kate Kovacs - 2
school boards are all inextricable pieces of a beautiful human puzzle. Communication between these
members of the community are essential to building a positive and supportive learning environment for
students. Beyond the involvement of technology, each member of this puzzle has a different role in
allowing students to grow within their passions (and simply meeting all of my peers in Ed. 2500 has
allowed me to understand how much variation is possible when learning through passion). Managing all
of these complex pieces of connection in being a 21 st century teacher always will be a challenge as it
seems as though there are a hundred different directions a teacher is being pulled at any moment. There is
definitely a massive amount of responsibility resting on a teachers shoulders when they are being a
parent, a friend, an educator, and a support system to a student while they also have lessons to build,
curriculum to manage, materials to organize, and field trips to plan for twenty-five other exceptionally
diverse students as well, but I believe I will be well suited to this. By recognizing how much hard work
goes into teaching and STILL accepting the challenge will allow me continue to learn and grow every
day, and allow me to be a positive example for my students as well.
I feel that the presentation by ATA member Dan Grassick was very important when deciding if
becoming a teacher is right for me. Every interaction with every student needs to be wrapped in patience
and love in order to give them the attention they deserve. Furthermore, the higher standard teachers are
held to when educating enforces ethical, positive, wholesome teaching. Yet all of this responsibility and
action within codes of conduct doesnt mean learning or teaching has to be a mechanized process.
Seminar has taught me that teachers have an incredible wealth of resources to teach through, and a large
amount of variation is applicable to teaching. By embracing everyones differences, a classroom
communitys learning can be organic, fun, and lead to happiness.
Remembering and analyzing all this theory, when entering my practicum classroom, was an
incredibly enlightening experience. Through the example of my TA, Ive begun to see why teachers do
the things they do and the benefits (or complications) of certain strategies. One of my biggest concerns
when I first started Ed. 2500 was simply how to interact with a student if my role is to be their teacher.

Kate Kovacs - 3
However, this managed to feel very natural to me after just one day of examining the classroom, and I
think I have grown into this role much better that I expected I would. Now, I know all my students by
name, know many of their strengths and passions, and know what areas they need extra help to develop
into. Furthermore, many of my students have taught me more than I thought I could have learned from an
eleven year old. Through this brief period of practicum, each of them has gained a hold on my heart.
Ultimately, I want to show my students how much I care. One thing I feel I am able to do well when
teaching is making sure each of my students thoughts, ideas, or opinions are heard. For example, if my
students have something to say or it they have a question, I love to be enthusiastic when reacting to what
they have said and demonstrate how it can relate to other topics we may have discussed. By doing this, I
hope they will know how valued their passions and interests are and recognize how it is essential they
follow what they are interested in rather than tell me simply what they think I want to hear.
I believe I have grown a lot through the seminar portion of the class. Through my Contemporary
Issues in Education project, Ive learned my students are likely much more diverse than I can imagine and
I need to thoroughly make myself aware of these differences in order to personalize their learning.
Sometimes the curriculum does not yet answer to up-and-coming issues, but it is still the teachers
responsibility to be aware of modern concerns, become knowledgeable on them, and act to reinforce
positive stances on them. My microteaching project, which I presented in seminar and in my practicum,
was uniquely valuable to me as well. Ive identified several areas that I need to work on if I want to be a
successful teacher. Personal confidence in what I am presenting or discussing is likely something I will
grow into as I gain more experience teaching. However, there are several things I can do right now to
combat this: scripting what I plan to say has already proved to be very useful. It allows me to make sure I
honour the curriculum and prepares me for possible questions or challenging areas of instruction. Plus, it
allows me to fully understand what I am teaching. Another area I need to work on is my time
management. By working on my mindfulness, I can remain mentally present in what I say to my students
while also recognizing when I have explained something enough. Gaging my students attention span will

Kate Kovacs - 4
be useful for this and allow me to recognize when I need to move on. I noticed this particularly when I
presented my microteaching to my practicum class: my students definitely got a little bored during the
less interactive parts of my teaching, so by using time management effectively when simply instructing, I
will be able to move more quickly onto interactive sections. A very useful piece of criticism my TA gave
me was that it is very important to remember my audience when teaching something. Maybe my
presentation was perfectly informative for adults, but eleven year olds need to be engaged in different
ways. I look forward to improving this next time I get a chance to teach by (if using another powerpoint)
including more visuals, charts, and videos (which I feel my group did successfully in our Contemporary
Issues project).
Each of these individual parts of Education 2500 have resulted in a lot of thought and critical
thinking on my behalf. One thing I loved particularly about my General Humanities degree was how each
subject co-mingled with everything else. I am beginning to understand how this applies to Education as
well. I love thinking about how the theory interacts with the practical experiences, how particular
interactions can be improved, and how sometimes a whole plan can just collapse and a teacher needs to
adapt on the fly. All of this has culminated in a love, already, for teaching. I am so excited to continue
with the Faculty of Education in the fall semester and continue to learn anything else that theory and my
students can teach me.